| Germany's national sport is Fußball (football) |
Sport |
| Motor racing is popular. The BMW, Porsche and Mercedes teams are German |
|
| Germany's "second sport" is handball |
|
| Tennis is popular and several tennis stars hail from Germany |
|
| After football and handball, ice hockey is the next most popular sport |
|
| Karl Benz invented the petrol powered car in 1885 |
Inventions |
| The first Christmas trees were German, back in the 16th Century |
|
| Denim is French, but jeans were invented by a German |
|
| Johannes Gutenberg invented the reusable printing press in 1450 |
|
| X-rays were discovered by physicist Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen in 1895 |
|
| The Brandenburg Gate, once a gate into Berlin, is a symbol of the city |
Landmarks |
| Also in Berlin, the Reichstag is the home of the German Parliament |
|
| Heidelberg has some amazing mediaeval architecture still standing |
|
| Neuschwanstein Castle has the beauty of a fairy tale castle |
|
| Nuremberg Christmas Market is one of the world's oldest and most famous |
|
| Ludwig van Beethoven, arguably the most famous composer, was German |
People |
| Adolf Hitler was not German. He was Austrian |
|
| Albert Einstein was not American or Swiss as some claim. He was German |
|
| Hugo Boss was a famous German fashion designer |
|
| George I, ancestor to the modern royals, was the first German King of Britain |
|
| Germany is the 7th largest country in Europe covering 357,386 km² |
Geography |
| A third of Germany is forested. The most famous is the Black Forest |
|
| It also has mountains. The highest is Zugspitze at almost 3 km tall |
|
| The Rhine is the longest river in Germany |
|
| Germany is the most populous country entirely within Europe |
|
| Berlin is home to 7,000 to 8,000 wild boars |
Wildlife |
| In 2007, there were 36 wolf packs in Germany, Today there are 128 |
|
| Several species, like Bavarian Scurvy-grass, are found only in Germany |
|
| Berlin has more bats than any other city in Central Europe |
|
| The European hamster was first discovered in Germany |
|
| German is the most widely spoken language in the EU |
Language |
| Most languages have two genders. German has three |
|
| The longest German word has 42 letters, or some claim it has 80 |
|
| The German alphabet has 27 letters. "Eszett" (ß) is pronounced as "ss" |
|
| In German all nouns are capitalised, not just proper nouns as in English |
|
| Four German cities have populations over one million |
Cities |
| Bonn is a small city but it was West Germany's capital before reunification |
|
| Hamburg is 110 km inland but it has a busy port |
|
| Munich is world famous for its Oktoberfest |
|
| Cologne is most famous for the perfume named after it |
|
| Germany is most famous for its sausages or "wurst" |
Foods |
| There are more than 300 kinds of bread available in Germany |
|
| Germans have coffee and cake as the equivalent of teatime in England |
|
| One of the most popular cakes is the German Black Forest Gateaux |
|
| Germans love beer. The world's oldest brewery is in Germany |
|
| Many of the fairy tales we know and love were collected by the Grimm Brothers |
Culture |
| Apart from Beethoven, Germany has produced a multitude of composers |
|
| Three quarters of Germany's Autobahns have no speed limit |
|
| The German equivalent of Father Christmas is "Christkindl" |
|
| Punctuality is a part of German culture |
|
